Fascination semi live review sept 26

[sublarry]

Hi all. This is my second atept to post this review. I am having some issues with the Internet on the Fascination at this time. Here is the day 1 Day one- today started with us going to bed at 1:30 am. We recently took over a business and are in the middle of getting all the little details taken care of. it has been running us ragged for three weeks now. Up until the last minute we did not know if we were going to have to use our trip insurance.

 

Another issue we had at the last minute was our dog sitter got the flu and couldn't watch out two dogs so we had to scramble to find another one on Friday.

 

We woke up at 5:00 am to get ready for the flight to JAX which was at 8:30. We had a 45 minute drive to the airport. We had everything packed into a small carrying bag and my backpack for this trip. We really don't want to dress up for dinner. We just need to relax. We started looking for our boarding passes that I know I had printed out and thought I had brought home from the office. We searched everywhere and couldn't find them. I tried to go online to Carnival.com and I guess they close it out the day of the cruise because it would not access my boarding number. I started to get worried at that point.

 

We loaded up the car and off we went, with a stop at the office along the way to see if I could find the passes and luggage tags. They were on my desk where I had left them a few weeks ago.

 

We made it to the airport in plenty of time. The flight went smoothly and we were at JAX about a hour after takeoff. We found the carnival transfer desk and had about 30 minutes to wait for the first shuttle to the terminal. While we were pulling the carry on bag to the shuttle we heard some one ask if this was our luggage tag, and indeed ours had come off the bag. We were thinking things just won't stop going wrong.

 

The shuttle takes about 25 to 30 minutes with a ID check when you get to the terminal. The bus we were in smelled a lot like someone had cleaned fish in it or something. It really started to play with my wife's stomach before we got off.

 

The terminal in Jacksonville is nothing fancy, just a big metal building, but once you are inside everyone is very friendly. It was a quick procedure and we were on the ship before 1:00.

 

We went to our stateroom to drop off our bag and the keys wouldn't work. What else is going to happen to us was all we could think of. We went to guest services and they ran our keys and said they should work. They called a maintenance guy to come let us in. His key wouldn't work. Next up was a head cabin steward and his master key wouldn't do the trick either.

 

Guest services had stated a lot of rooms on the Upper deck were having this problem for some reason.

 

The head Stewart came back with a different key and we got into the room. Both of our keys worked in the door after that.

 

We had ordered the 12 pack of bottle water for $2.99 and it arrived while we were waiting for the door to be opened.

 

Once we settled in just a bit we went to the Lido deck for lunch. We got the soda sticker for our cards and headed for the food.

 

The food was just as I remembered. We did the grill. It was Italian day in Coconut Grove. We ate at a table and when finished we went to the serenity deck to wait on the safety briefing.

 

After the safety briefing we watched the Fascination pull out of of the port. We did not stay up to watch it go under the bridge, we went down to check on our bag and it had arrived. Once we put everything away we went exploring the ship since this is our first time on it. We have done the Elation a few times and every thing has a different name but is basically in the same place as so we were able to find everything as we went along.

 

The ship seemed pretty empty today even though it was fully booked. I hope it is that was on the Lido deck tomorrow with no chair hogs, well that is too much to hope for, but hopefully chairs are plentiful.

 

We thought about doing the main dining room for dinner since it was casual night but I have no faith in the dining room being able to get us out in a hour and a half in time for the welcome aboard show at 7:30.

 

We went thru the buffet line inside Coconut Grove. We had Tilapia and some beef strip loin. I had a salad and a banana to go with that.

 

We headed down to the welcome aboard show and were early so we sat in the second row. The cruise director Robin came and talked to us for a while before the show started. He seems to be a very nice guy. This is the first time we have spoken with the cruise director on a ship.

 

The show was a little different than any other welcome aboard show I have seen. It finished after the singers did some songs and then they moved the party to the main lobby. Robin was up at the top of the stairs directing the activities and dance moves like something out of a huge club. It was a really fun way to start a cruise. We went to a few shops then sent back to the serenity deck for a rest.

 

One last piece of pizza and we were off to bed. Once again my key wouldn't work in the door. We just stared at each other. My wife's key did work that time so we were in. I wonder if maybe the battery in the door may be running low.

 

When we got in the Kim we had some chocolate covered strawberries from guest services. I suppose that was for the key not working. Everyone at guest services was very friendly and had the situation taken care on quickly. There were others who were frustrated with the whole issue, but for us it was just normal after all we had been thru the last few weeks.

 

Here is to a great fun day at see tomorrow heading to the Bahamas.

[crewsweeper]

Sure hope the rest of your cruise is 100 Times better than the first day. :)

 

Hope you get some time to head back here and let us know.

[Dtread]

Hope everything else goes well.... we will be waiting to get on when you guys get back!

 

 

Hi all. This is my second atept to post this review. I am having some issues with the Internet on the Fascination at this time. Here is the day 1 Day one- today started with us going to bed at 1:30 am. We recently took over a business and are in the middle of getting all the little details taken care of. it has been running us ragged for three weeks now. Up until the last minute we did not know if we were going to have to use our trip insurance.

 

Another issue we had at the last minute was our dog sitter got the flu and couldn't watch out two dogs so we had to scramble to find another one on Friday.

 

We woke up at 5:00 am to get ready for the flight to JAX which was at 8:30. We had a 45 minute drive to the airport. We had everything packed into a small carrying bag and my backpack for this trip. We really don't want to dress up for dinner. We just need to relax. We started looking for our boarding passes that I know I had printed out and thought I had brought home from the office. We searched everywhere and couldn't find them. I tried to go online to Carnival.com and I guess they close it out the day of the cruise because it would not access my boarding number. I started to get worried at that point.

 

We loaded up the car and off we went, with a stop at the office along the way to see if I could find the passes and luggage tags. They were on my desk where I had left them a few weeks ago.

 

We made it to the airport in plenty of time. The flight went smoothly and we were at JAX about a hour after takeoff. We found the carnival transfer desk and had about 30 minutes to wait for the first shuttle to the terminal. While we were pulling the carry on bag to the shuttle we heard some one ask if this was our luggage tag, and indeed ours had come off the bag. We were thinking things just won't stop going wrong.

 

The shuttle takes about 25 to 30 minutes with a ID check when you get to the terminal. The bus we were in smelled a lot like someone had cleaned fish in it or something. It really started to play with my wife's stomach before we got off.

 

The terminal in Jacksonville is nothing fancy, just a big metal building, but once you are inside everyone is very friendly. It was a quick procedure and we were on the ship before 1:00.

 

We went to our stateroom to drop off our bag and the keys wouldn't work. What else is going to happen to us was all we could think of. We went to guest services and they ran our keys and said they should work. They called a maintenance guy to come let us in. His key wouldn't work. Next up was a head cabin steward and his master key wouldn't do the trick either.

 

Guest services had stated a lot of rooms on the Upper deck were having this problem for some reason.

 

The head Stewart came back with a different key and we got into the room. Both of our keys worked in the door after that.

 

We had ordered the 12 pack of bottle water for $2.99 and it arrived while we were waiting for the door to be opened.

 

Once we settled in just a bit we went to the Lido deck for lunch. We got the soda sticker for our cards and headed for the food.

 

The food was just as I remembered. We did the grill. It was Italian day in Coconut Grove. We ate at a table and when finished we went to the serenity deck to wait on the safety briefing.

 

After the safety briefing we watched the Fascination pull out of of the port. We did not stay up to watch it go under the bridge, we went down to check on our bag and it had arrived. Once we put everything away we went exploring the ship since this is our first time on it. We have done the Elation a few times and every thing has a different name but is basically in the same place as so we were able to find everything as we went along.

 

The ship seemed pretty empty today even though it was fully booked. I hope it is that was on the Lido deck tomorrow with no chair hogs, well that is too much to hope for, but hopefully chairs are plentiful.

 

We thought about doing the main dining room for dinner since it was casual night but I have no faith in the dining room being able to get us out in a hour and a half in time for the welcome aboard show at 7:30.

 

We went thru the buffet line inside Coconut Grove. We had Tilapia and some beef strip loin. I had a salad and a banana to go with that.

 

We headed down to the welcome aboard show and were early so we sat in the second row. The cruise director Robin came and talked to us for a while before the show started. He seems to be a very nice guy. This is the first time we have spoken with the cruise director on a ship.

 

The show was a little different than any other welcome aboard show I have seen. It finished after the singers did some songs and then they moved the party to the main lobby. Robin was up at the top of the stairs directing the activities and dance moves like something out of a huge club. It was a really fun way to start a cruise. We went to a few shops then sent back to the serenity deck for a rest.

 

One last piece of pizza and we were off to bed. Once again my key wouldn't work in the door. We just stared at each other. My wife's key did work that time so we were in. I wonder if maybe the battery in the door may be running low.

 

When we got in the Kim we had some chocolate covered strawberries from guest services. I suppose that was for the key not working. Everyone at guest services was very friendly and had the situation taken care on quickly. There were others who were frustrated with the whole issue, but for us it was just normal after all we had been thru the last few weeks.

 

Here is to a great fun day at see tomorrow heading to the Bahamas.

[Marknga]

Was on the Fascination a couple weeks ago... hope your time is as good as ours was.

Relax and enjoy.

[sublarry]

It has been a good cruise overall. We have our rough spots, but it is still a cruise. Here comes day 2-4.

 

Day two-

 

What a night sleep. I woke up around 8:30 and Lisa woke up at 10:00. We got ready and headed to the pool. We did not have to fight for chairs. It did seem to fill up a little after we got there.

 

Lisa went to get us some bacon to eat. She said the bacon cops were out and handing it out very sparingly. We also had a few bananas. The sun came thru the clouds and over the side of the ship around 11:00.

 

We got pretty warm by 11:30 and got in the pool. The water wasn't as cold as we thought it would be and it wasn't overcrowded with kids. 😄😄😄

 

We had a quick lunch in Coconut Grove. It was American day with pot roast, fried chicken, and breaded fish. I had the pot roast. It was very good. We also made salads at the salad bar. One thing we wanted to compare was the salad bar on carnival vs making a salad on the Epic. It is much easier to make a salad on carnival, but if you are willing to search out the ingredients you can make a better one on the Epic.

 

We turned our towels in at about 12:30 to go to a slot pull with other cruise critic members. Only problem was we were there a hour early.

 

We went and watched part of the Patriots vs Jaguar game while waiting for the slot pull.

 

The slot pull ended up good. Each person put in $21 and got 7 spins. We walked away with $50 each after a big comeback.

 

We headed back to the pool for the rest of the afternoon. I went to get a snack and when I got back to my chair an afternoon shower started. It did not last long and we were back in the sun. We got ready for dinner and I had prime rib and a couple of the spare ribs. One thing Carnival does consistently well is their pork dishes.

 

For the night activities we went to the Motor City show. We sat in the second row and they have about 15 minutes of fun and games before the show. My wife volunteered me to do some little dance with a Supreme's wig on. A lady in front of us said I was the best up there.

 

Also before the show they came down looking for a married couple and we got picked again. I had to get up and sing "My Girl" in front of everyone. She said I did good.

 

This was a awesome show and I highly recommend you attend if you are on a ship with it. Once again the show ended with a rush to the main lobby and some dancing with the stars of the show.

 

After the show we went up on the Lido deck to watch the Lunar Eclipse and then went to the deli for a late night snack before turning in for the night.

 

Tomorrow morning is Nassau.

[sublarry]

Day three-

 

Day three was Nassau day. We had booked a day pass at the Hilton British Colonial resort. We were looking forward to a private beach after our last visit here when we did a public beach. There were so many people trying to braid what little hair I have and selling shirts and conch shells that it was not enjoyable.

 

We got up at 8:00 with the alarm clock and we're getting all of our things together for the day. Lisa was getting her ID out of her purse when she noticed he wallet was missing. For some reason we failed to put it in the safe.

 

Ok, for all of you that enjoy beating a horse to death here let me have it for not doing this. It isn't like you can make us feel any worse about it. We know to put things in the safe and somehow overlooked this part. If you knew the full story of what we have been thru the weeks before getting here you would understand how something could be missed.

 

We went to guest services to report it missing and filled out a claim. They called security and they tried to make us feel as if we were trying to scam them.

 

They said they would come to our room and search everything and we said ok hoping maybe they would find it somewhere we failed to look. After turning the room upside down it was still missing.

 

They had my wife write down everything about what she had done with it once we got on board. They went thru my wallet to make sure I wasn't hiding her credit cards in there.

 

Once he was done he made my wife go thru her story a couple more times.

 

Finally they were convinced it wasn't here.

 

For those of you who travel without a passport on a cruise and just your ID, if we didn't bring passports she would not have been able to leave the ship after this event because she would not have a ID to get back on board with. Also going thru the airport would be difficult if not impossible without any ID so a passport is a good safety net. (Yes, those made it to the safe.)

 

We packed up and headed out for the beach resort.

 

The British Colonial was about a 10 minute walk and you could see it from the ship if you knew where to look. You leave the port area and go right on the sidewalk past Señor Frogs and continue around a corner and it is on the right.

 

The cost on line thru Resort For a Day was $60 per person. They give you a towel voucher and a food and drink voucher for $40 per person to use, so basically $20 to get in and $40 food and beverages. That amount was plenty for us because we don't drink alcohol.

 

Once we got to the resort Omar greeted us and let us know he would be taking care of us for the day. He brought out a large bottle of water with a couple of glasses of ice.

 

The beach was very nice and the water was perfect temperature and very smooth. We heard from other passengers who went to cabbage beach and they said the water was too rough to enjoy. We could see large waves breaking over the sea wall near where we were but it didn't effect us.

 

We had a couple of hamburgers and nachos for lunch. The nachos were just some chips with cheese sauce and salsa in little cups served with it. The burgers were good. We also had virgin daiquiris and a few pops to get us thru. Our food and drink bill worked out to $79.50. The did have tax and a 15% gratuity added to this. Alcoholic drinks were $9.00 I believe. I didn't notice the beer prices.

 

Once we were done with the ocean for the day we went to the pool to rinse off and get dry a bit before heading to town for a little shopping. The pool was very nice.

 

Towels are included I. The price so no need to bring your own.

 

If you are looking for a really quiet and relaxing beach this is the one. We were told they only sell about 25 passes a day and the rest of the people there are staying at the hotel. We were told Princess Anne was at the resort the day before and had checked out before we arrived that morning so that will let you know the quality of their facilities.

 

We left the Hilton and did a little shopping on the way back to the ship. Nassau was not as bad as I remembered it being the first time I went, but part of that may be due to us in Cruise Critic and other sites that have become available since my first trip there.

 

We got back on the ship and had been told earlier to stop at guest services to check the status of the investigation of the wallet. They called the security guy and he said they were checking with housekeeping. He then asked me if there was anyone at our house I could call to have them look for the wallet. I know she had it with her at the airport in Nashville, and on the transfer bus from JAX to the port where they look at your ID before letting the bus enter the port gates. After that I never saw it, but I don't typically try to keep up with things that are not mine. I will ask back at the airport transport desk just in case it fell out on the bus.

 

Once done with the formalities we went to the top deck to do the slides. :The twister slide was very fun and I was amazed how fast you can go thru it. I even said keepers creepers out loud the first time thru.

 

After a couple of times thru the slide we went to find chairs and something to snack on.

 

We went to get ready for the night out. We ate in Coconut grove again and had prime rib and a salad.

 

The night was fairly slow. We did a salsa dance lesson and watched the liars club game. We tried out the piano bar but it wasn't very fun at that particular time. We grabbed a quick snack and ate it on the serenity deck.

 

Tomorrow is Freeport, one of my favorite places on earth.

[sublarry]

Day four

 

Today we woke up to the alarm at 8:00 to get ready for Freeport. As I mentioned this is one of my favorite places to go. I know others don't feel that way.

 

Freeport used to be one of the busiest islands, but hurricanes have really taken a toll on it. The international bazaar they used to house all of the normal cruise ships like Diamonds International now sits mostly empty and there used to be a large casino near there. It is also gone.

 

We booked a day pass at the Grand Lucayan thru shore excursioneers. The pass was $20 pp. when we found the right hate to go in we saw you could get a pass for $15. I don't know if they limit the number of passes, but we were the only ship in port today. We were also the only ship in Nassau the day before. It was great to not have 4 or 5 ships like a typical day in Cozumel.

 

The beach was great and just as I remembered from previous trips. One word of caution, this is pretty much a cash free resort so make sure you take a credit card you can use internationally.

 

The bar opens about 10:00 so if you want drinks you need to go to the coffee shop or the sundries shop. The coffee shop had good strawberry smoothies. We got our chairs under a palapa and settled in for a morning of fun in the sun.

 

The ship had a all aboard call at 3:30 so we had lunch a little after 12:00 at the China Grill near the beach. I had another burger which was good and Lisa had the sampler platter with 3 wings, 3 spring rolls and a couple of pot stickers. She really liked hers. The food and cokes came to $35.

 

After eating we went to the pool and rinsed off and got semi dry.

 

Once we accomplished that we went across the street to the Lucayan marketplace. We went thru the straw market and had a lot of fun with the vendors there. There are so much more laid back than the ones in Nassau. I bought my wife a endless bracelet from one of the booths and a magnet from another. Once done shopping. We headed back for the cab/shuttle/bus back to the pier. The ride is $5.00 pp each way and they will try to sell you a return trip for $5.00 more. We did that and they give you a little card you give back to them when you get back on. The officer in the port said if you want a cab just for you it would be $27. The can/bus we took waits until they get 10 people before leaving. We were back on the ship at about 2:45.

 

We went to our room to put up our towels and other items. After that it was back to guest services about the wallet. They said they were done with the investigation and did not find it. I instructed my wife to get a copy of the report to help with any fraudulent charges that may come up on any card we may have forgotten to close the morning we found the wallet missing.

 

Once done with that it was off to the pool and a quick snack.

 

We walked around the decks for a bit then got ready for dinner. Coconut grove again. We have succeeded so far in our first cruise without the main dining room.

 

The meal was breaded shrimp and jerk pork loin. That has long been one of my favorites on the Carnival ships. The also had a leg of lamb at the carving station,

 

After dinner we went to the palace for Hasbro the game show. This was a pretty good show. We went to the Invicta watch sale after the game show and I purchased a watch.

 

Next up was the love and marriage show at 10:30 which never disappoints. Robin the cruise director really added to the fun for this show.

 

The Mexican buffet and deck party was well under way when the love and marriage show ended.we got a little of the food before heading to bed for the night.

 

Overall this was my favorite day. I know Freeport gets a bad rap from some but any day day there is better than a day almost anywhere else in the world that I have been. To reach their own I suppose.

 

Tomorrow,

Last day at sea.

[Marknga]

Good stuff.... thanks for sharing. Hope the wallet turns up.

[Drumbum675]

Sounds like you guys missed the storm. We are getting on tomorrow as you get off and are sailing into the storm....should be fun. Maybe that will cancel Freeport and send us to key west!

[sublarry]

We had a little bit of waves yesterday coming back. They were hitting from two different directions. One from the wind and one from the tropical storm swell. The captain said we were about 60 miles away from the edge of the storm. Hope you guys have a safe trip. We are on the airport shuttle waiting to leave port now. I will try to finish the report tonight or tomorrow. For what it is worth, the carnival app for the phone does not work on this ship and if you buy the Internet package it really doesn't work well in cabin U85. Does ok but really slow on the Lido deck.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tch912]

Sublarry, you are giving a great report even though your wife lost her wallet. You write with such enthusiasm and I am glad you are both making the best of it. You are my kind of traveler :D.

[mommytotwins]

Thanks for your review! We will be on the Fascination in January. My husband and I have cruised once before but we are taking 12 newbies with us! Glad to hear you had a great trip!

 

I hate that about your wife's wallet!

[sublarry]

On a good note, we found the wallet. It was in the closet at home. She decided she didn't need to take it and had just taken her license out. We were just so frazzled when we were hoping we didn't have to cancel.

 

TCH912, thanks for the kind words. All you can do is go on and have some fun with it. I read where little things ruin people's cruises. There was nothing we could do about it so just try to forget it and do the best you can.

 

 

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[Ofmyheart]

Hooray for the found wallet and glad it didn't ruin your trip. We are on the Fascination the first week of Dec, hoping the storms are all gone by then.

[sublarry]

I hope they are gone for you too. We really didn't care for Tommy G in the piano bar. That limited a little of our late night fun. The cruise director made a difference on this cruise for the first time ever for us on a carnival cruise. Have a great trip!

 

 

Sublarry

[tch912]

Sublarry I am soooo happy :D your wife's wallet was at home. I will be on the Fascination October 15. I haven't had a vacation since the week of New Years. I am past due. You gave very good information. I will do some of the activities mentioned in the report. Thanks again for the great trip report.

[Cruisealuffagus]

We will be on the Nov 30th to Dec 5th cruise as well, just look for the guy with 2 different colored shoes on for the first day :)

[dogbert's mom]

Thanks for the up beat review! I'm pretty mellow but I'm not sure if I could get past the lost wallet!